By way of background, Internet Protocol Television (“IPTV”) is a system in which digital television service is delivered by using internet protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection. A general definition of IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.
For residential users, IPTV is often provided in conjunction with Video on Demand (“VOD”) and may be bundled with internet services such as web access and Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”). In businesses, IPTV may be used to deliver television content over corporate Local Area Networks (“LANs”).
IPTV covers both live TV (e.g., multicasting) as well as stored video (e.g., VOD). The playback of IPTV generally requires either a personal computer or a set-top box connected to a TV. Video content is typically compressed using either a MPEG-2 or a MPEG-4 codec and then sent in a Moving Pictures Expert Group (“MPEG”) transport stream delivered via IP multicast in case of live TV or via IP Unicast in case of VOD. IP multicast or IP multicast protocol is a method in which information or content can be sent to multiple computers at the same time. In IP multicast protocol, each program channel (Px) may be defined as one multicast group, with the client watching the program via Internet Group Management Protocol's (“IGMP's”) join/leave commands. IGMP is described in further detail in IETF Standard, RFC3376, “Internet Group Management Protocol, Version 3”, October 2002, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Generally, in most broadband services, (e.g., Digital Subscriber Line (“DSL”) using twisted telephone wire or cable modem using coaxial cable), the last mile between an edge router and home gateway (hereinafter referred to as “the last mile” or “the last mile bandwidth”) is the bottleneck of bandwidth availability. For example, the AT&T U-verse service is limited to offer only 2 High Definition (“HD”) and 2 Standard Definition (“SD”) channels simultaneously due to DSL bandwidth limitations. This last mile bandwidth availability varies depending upon the physical distance and the signal quality (impairments) from home to home. Consequently, the content compression parameters have to be adjusted accordingly and video quality will be compromised in order to deliver the committed service, such as 2 HD and 2 SD channels, to all homes.
The present disclosure contemplates new devices, systems and methods that minimize and/or resolve the above-referenced difficulties and others.